In The Key of Love
by RatedRforRecycled
Summary: A series of one-shots about the ever so dynamic duo with tension so thick you couldn't even cut it with a steak knife. Each one-shot will be centered around a specific song. Rated T at the moment, may change. UPDATED 8/14/09
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: The song is by Little Big Town, so of course I do not own it. I also do not own anything from WWE, TNA, or any of the characters mentioned... they of course own themselves. All I do is use them for my own personal enjoyment and entertainment.

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It seemed as if the show would never get done, the past few hours had been dragging on and on, almost as if even the clock knew she wanted nothing more than to leave that place. Sure, she loved the business and loved wrestling like it was her child, but there was somewhere more important she needed to be tonight. Usually he would have come with Steph to the arena but lately it had gotten much too difficult to do filming, go to his shows, and go to work with Stephanie all at once. Vince looked at his daughter, seeing that distant gaze that spoke volumes about where her heart and mind really were at that very moment. Sighing, Vince rested a hand on his daughter's shoulder, grabbing her attention for a moment.

"I know, dad, I know. Lost focus there again, gotta get back to paying attention to what's going on in the ring..." Stephanie said, flipping around until she got to the part in her script that they were on now. It wasn't like her to not pay attention to her own show, usually she was dissecting every single move the guys made and every single word the announcers said. Levesque looked at her as he walked by, seeing that same distant gaze in her eyes that Vince had noticed earlier. Honestly, he didn't quite know what she saw in that goofy dork that she hadn't seen in himself. Walking up to the gorilla, he looked at Steph, then at Vince and chuckled.

"Run out of coffee or something? Usually the two of you are full of piss and vinegar, especially at SmackDown tapings." Paul asked, knowing that wasn't even close to the real problem.

Stephanie looked up at her former love, rolling her eyes in annoyance as Vince looked on. Several other wrestlers walked by, casually observing the interaction between the three of them. Everyone kept their distance though, they knew that it could turn into a volatile situation at any moment, especially given Stephanie and Paul's tempers when it came to each other.

"No Paul, unlike some people, I actually have somewhere else I'd like to be now. As much as you all entertain me and make me laugh, I'd love to be where I feel happiest and full of love. Right now, that place is nowhere near this arena." Stephanie said, looking down and sighing. Paul looked at Vince, then at Stephanie, and then back at Vince. Seeing the expression on Paul's face, Vince knew they were both thinking the same thing. Reaching over, Vince grabbed Stephanie's script and pulled it over towards his end of the table. Stephanie was too busy looking at her phone to even notice what was going on, until she looked up that was. Paul was gone, thank goodness... but there was one important item that was missing from in front of her as well.

"Dad, did you see where my script went off to? I gotta make sure this finish goes as planned so we can get out of here on time. They're starting to run longer than we all talked about this afternoon and if that happens, we're gonna be spending all night trying to find where to edit from to get within the right amount of airtime for Friday night!" Stephanie rambled on, the idea of having to stay late really getting on her nerves.

"It's right here sweetheart, I have it. You won't be needing it though." Vince told his daughter, handing it over to one of the production staffers.

"But how am I going to know if the finish goes right?" she asked in a panic. The script had everything they needed to know for the major parts of this match... without it she was up a creek with no paddle.

"You'll know when you see it on TV Friday night..." Vince replied, smiling at his daughter and waiting for the meaning behind his words to hit her. Still sitting there confused, Stephanie grew a tad bit agitated.

"By then it'll be too late though if it runs over and we don't edit it. Dad, we can't have that happen... we didn't get clearance for an overrun from the network this week." she said exasperated. What the hell was he thinking? She couldn't be without the script if they were going to pull off a good show this week.

"There's dozens of production staff that work here Stephanie, I'm here tonight, Kevin is in the truck, and there's countless other people around too." he explained, surprised that she didn't quite understand what he was doing for her.

"What are you trying to say daddy? You've never acted like this before, you're almost going a bit crazy in a way.." Stephanie questioned, confused by her father's sudden change in behavior.

"Sweetie, go home. It's been a long week, the PPV weekend craziness is always hell on everyone. Go home and take care of things there... you both deserve some extra together time." Vince replied, a smile on his face as he watched his daughter's eyes light up and the expression on her face turn from sadness to one of excitement. Standing up, she turned to give her father a big hug.

"Daddy, thank you so much!" she exclaimed, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"It's all worth it to see you happy sweetheart..." he replied, watching as she grabbed her purse and almost bounced down the hallway.

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Laying on the couch, Kurt was all but fast asleep as he listened to the sounds of a suburban summer night. Dogs barking, the midnight train coming through right on time... some things he would never get tired of as long as he lived. During the day when he was home, he loved to sit with the windows open, listening as the neighborhood kids played outside. It only took a couple more minutes of lying there for him to start to doze off. Just one more night and she would be back in his arms where she belonged; it was the one thing that kept him going when they had to be apart. Before he finally went off into dreamland, the last image in his head was of her laying beside him with her head on his chest.

**_You got someone here wants to make it all right_**

**_Someone who loves you more than life right here_**

About an hour later, Stephanie slowly opened the rather large door leading to the inside of the house. It had been a long flight but thankfully she was able to take the jet so she wouldn't have to wait around any longer. Putting her bags down and slipping off her shoes, she tiptoed through the hallway towards the bedroom only to see a figure curled up on the oversized plush couch. Smiling to herself, she quietly made her way into the room, trying her best to not wake the sleeping giant . He looked so peaceful when asleep, it was actually kind of cute in a way. His eyes didn't close tightly so you could still make out their full shape, and he always had this grin on his face when he slept, especially when they were together. Bending down so she hovered right above his head, Stephanie gave him one long kiss on the lips before getting ready to head to bed.

This dream, it had never felt like this before, not even the first time he had it. This time Kurt could feel everything so vividly, even another pair of lips on his own and a pair of hands lightly touching his bare chest. Slightly waking from his sleep, it became very clear that this was not a dream at all. It couldn't be, could it? SmackDown was taping tonight, it was Tuesday night and a set of shows after a PPV. She couldn't possibly be home already... usually no one got back into town until Wednesday morning. Reaching out towards where the hands were coming from, he smirked when his arms found their way around a very familiar waist. Deciding to have some fun with the unsuspecting woman, he pulled her back towards the couch.

_**You've got willing arms that'll hold you tight  
A hand to lead you on through the night right here** _

Stephanie shrieked when she was suddenly pulled toward the couch, landing right against the rock hard body of one Kurt Angle. Looking at him, she shook her head upon seeing the half-awake grin on his face.

"Not that I mind being woken up this way after a long week, but how are you home so early? I thought you guys were taping again tonight." he asked, sitting up so he could be closer to her.

"Daddy sent me home early. I was kind of down a bit about being away for so long and that you weren't able to come and he just took my script away and told me to go ahead and come home, that it had been a long week and we deserved some together time." Stephanie told him, in pure bliss over the cuddle session they were having.

"Remind me to thank your dad for giving me so much time to be with you. I'm so lucky to get to hold you all the time and be in your life. I know it's not really an ideal situation right now with you always doing shows every week and me filming all these movies and still doing the rest of my contract deal with TNA, but we're making it work just like I knew we could." Kurt said, leaning in towards Stephanie as he spoke.

"Aww... you're so sweet. You know I would do anything so that we could be together, even if it means taking time away from everything else in life. This means that much to me, 'us' that is. I just wish we hadn't wasted all these years not speaking and doing our own thing. We could've been so much more right now had we not been so stubborn for so long." Stephanie said, a sigh making it past her lips.

Kurt looked at her, knowing she had really missed him for a long time before they had started talking again the previous year. He shook his head, ridding himself of any sad thoughts, this night, this week was theirs and he was intent on making it a good one.

**_So take your worries and  
Just drop them at the door  
Baby, leave it all behind _**

"Shhh... don't think about that Steph, it doesn't matter now. What matters is that we're here now together and still have a lot of life ahead of us together. I love you, that will never change and that hasn't changed all these years." Kurt said, his lips almost touching hers as she lay on the couch looking up into his eyes. Smiling, she brought a hand up, cupping the side of his face.

"I love you too, I have for longer than you know. You have no idea how hard it is to do a segment for TV with you in the room and not even touch you or cuddle you or even smile at you. Worst death sentence ever." Stephanie told Kurt, her gaze never leaving his. Seeing the pure carnal look in his eyes, Stephanie licked her lips.

"Damn, you're such a tease." he whispered in her ear, the sensation of his warm breath against her skin sending chills down Stephanie's spine.

"You know you enjoy every second of it." she replied, snaking her arms around his torso, pulling him down so their lips crashed against each others. Running his hands up and down her sides, Kurt barely let his fingertips touch, just lightly graze the skin underneath her top. Staying like that for a minute or two, Kurt suddenly sat up, flipping Stephanie over his shoulder and walked out of the room. As he continued on towards the bedroom, the sound of shrieking and laughter could be echoing throughout the house. Yes, this was exactly where they both wanted to be more than anything else in the world.

**_When your long day is over  
And you can barely drag your feet  
The weight of the world  
Is on your shoulders  
I know what you need  
Bring it on home to me _**


	2. Scream

_A/N: The song is from High School Musical 3, so of course I do not own it. I also do not own anything from WWE, TNA, or any of the characters mentioned... they of course own themselves. All I do is use them for my own personal enjoyment and entertainment.  


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Kurt was more than annoyed with everything that was going on, more so at work than at home, but it had been affecting everything at home more than he would have liked it to. It was getting closer to the end of his contract and his attention was being pulled in so many different directions. Sure he had a great thing going for him in TNA, the last few years here had been good to him despite the backstage drama that came with the territory. But there was also this idea of heading to WWE, the place that had been his home for so many years. The schedule was more jam packed there than TNA but anymore it seemed that he was traveling and doing stuff just as much now as he had been when he was with WWE in the first place. He had heard that Vince was interested in perhaps welcoming him back, not only from different sources in the industry but from Stephanie as well. Finally, there was the idea of leaving wrestling all together and getting into acting and ventures like that. After the last few independent films Kurt had worked on, he was beginning to grow more and more fond of the film industry and the fact that he could do the same kind of things he always did on wrestling programming but in the end come away not feeling like total crap from being in the ring for 20 minutes. All the options were just too much for Kurt to deal with at the moment, he needed space from wrestling at least for a day.

**_The day a door is closed__  
__The echoes fill your soul__  
__They won't say which way to go__  
__Just trust your heart_**

"Hey Kurt, can we chat for a minute? I wanted to run an idea by you for next week's tapings." his friend Kevin Nash asked, sitting out in the warm, afternoon sun.

"Dude, we're not even at work right now! Do you ever stop thinking about wrestling for one day?" Kurt replied, kind of annoyed that he was bringing up work while they were relaxing in Kurt's backyard as a few other guests enjoyed the lovely in-ground pool him and Stephanie had put in a few months earlier.

"What's got your swimmin trunks in a bind Mr. Clean?" Kevin asked, a bit confused by Kurt's response. Here was a man who ate, slept, and breathed wrestling and he was asking Kevin whether or not he could go a day without thinking about wrestling.

"Nothing Kev, I just want to relax is all! Plus you're totally killing my buzz from watching the activities in the pool." Kurt replied, hoping that would pacify his friend.

**_Voices in my head  
Tell me they know best  
Got me on the edge  
they're pushin', pushin',  
they're pushin'_**

Stephanie was in the pool with some of her friends from work, chatting and splashing away. In the distance she could see Kevin and Kurt deep in conversation but couldn't quite make out what they were talking about. Starting to float away a bit, she kept looking over to where the two were sitting.  
"What do you think they're talking about?" Stephanie said, avoiding their collective stares.

"Probably work drama... seems like there's enough of it anymore on their end of the business." Amy said, not really liking this whole idea of the two being together.

"Well if it is then I'll be back here before you can miss me. The last thing I want to hear about for the thousandth time is 'Jeff did this and Jeff did that and Jeff is out to get me'. It's getting kind of irritating in a way." she replied, getting out of the pool and grabbing her towel before heading towards the boys. She knew their group didn't really like that her and Kurt were seeing each other but they knew she was happy so it made it easier for them to accept. So long as he kept her happy, that's what mattered most to her friends.

Creeping up behind Kurt's chair, Stephanie made sure her arms were extra wet when she wrapped them around him, placing a kiss to the cheek. Kurt jumped in his seat a bit, much to Kevin's amusement.  
"Well hello Stephanie. Long time no see sexy." Kevin said to her, only to get a glare from Kurt in response. Stephanie laughed, seeing the look on Kurt's face when Kevin called her sexy. Kurt wasn't a jealous man by any means, but even so, he did not enjoy hearing his best friend call his girlfriend sexy right in front of him.  
"That will be enough sweet talking my girlfriend Nash. Go find your own girl!" Kurt told his friend as Kevin hammed it up a bit, holding his chest.  
"Aww... that really hurt me right here." he exclaimed, before erupting into a fit of laughter. Stephanie shook her head, Kevin was such a cheeseball sometimes.  
"As much as I enjoy seeing you make a spectacle of yourself Nash, I would like a few minutes alone with Kurt please."  
Kevin didn't hesitate to get up from his seat, walking towards the pool and jumping right in the middle, splashing a bunch of the divas in the process. Trish and Amy shrieked, throwing a beach ball at his head in anger.

"So what do I owe this wonderful interruption to? Surely the pool is much more entertaining than being over here in the hot sun watching everyone else splash about." Kurt asked, curious as to the reason Stephanie suddenly left her friends to come over there. Not that he minded, the sight of her in her bathing suit still dripping wet from being in the pool was a wonderful thing, even if it was doing not so great things for his swimming trunks.

"Oh I was just watching you and Kevin for a bit and thought I would come over because I missed you and I missed seeing your smile." she replied, cuddling up in the lounge chair with Kurt as everyone kept doing their own thing.

"I see. We were just talking about stuff, stupid stuff actually." Kurt told her, hoping it would satisfy her sudden curiosity. He didn't want her to know about the problems he was having with this whole contract issue. Yea it was stupid but he wanted to have something in his life that wasn't complicated at the moment and as long as she didn't get into the whole problem, their relationship would be that one thing.

"Like what?" Stephanie asked, knowing he had been torn about what to do about his future but never really knowing the full extent because he wouldn't talk about it before. She wasn't sure if it was because he was trying to protect her or if it was because she was tied to a part of the whole thing.  
"It's just that, I don't know what to do when it's up... my contract that is. I have so many people telling me I need to make a decision, no matter where I turn, but yet no one will tell me what that decision should be. Honestly, I don't know what it should be either. There's just so many things pulling me every which way..." he said, stopping in mid sentence when Stephanie put a finger to his lips. He must have been rambling because she only did that in mid-ramble or when they were alone.

"Kurt, you could always talk to me about this stuff. I only want what's best for you and whatever would make you happiest, no matter what that would be. If it means staying with TNA a while longer, then we can handle that, me and you that is. If it means you resigning with the company, then by all means do so. But Kurt, if it means leaving wrestling all together and pursuing whatever else it is that you want to, go ahead and do it. Whatever is going to make you happy baby, because when you're happy, I'm happy. Don't let this all pile up on you, make your decision in your own time, you still have a while to think about all your options..." Stephanie told him, knowing how difficult such a huge decision could be when people are pressuring you to decide.

"What if I make a mistake though? What if I choose the wrong option? Because how do I know what's best for me? How could I possibly know, when the things I thought were best for me have turned around and bit back with vengence?" he asked, not really knowing whether or not he could make this decision alone anymore.  
"You obviously thought one thing in your life was good for you..." Stephanie said, waiting to see if he made the connection.  
"For so long I thought I knew what was best for me.. and now I'm sitting here torn about which path to choose... all because I thought I knew what was best for me..."  
Kurt looked away, trying to focus his attention on something else so he wouldn't get angry.

**_I don't know, where to go, what's the right team?  
I want my own thing. So bad I'm gonna Scream!  
I can't choose, so confused! What's it all mean?  
I want my own dream. So bad I'm gonna Scream!_**

Stephanie was getting annoyed, it was like he was no longer listening to what she was saying... he had entered his own world and mindset. Getting up, she walked out of the space occupying the lounge chair.  
"Steph?" Kurt asked, confused as to why she was walking away. Did he say something?

It wasn't easy but they were a team and had defeated incredible obstacles to still be together... but here Kurt was, still putting himself on the same guilt trip he had been for months. Stephanie knew he felt responsible for the tough time she was having at work, especially when it came to the roster and making things happen. Pulling out his phone, he dialed a familiar number and waited. Talking to the person for a minute, he dialed another number as the person currently on the line waited somewhat impatiently. Hearing the second person answer the phone Kurt took a deep breath, gathering the strength he was going to need in the next few minutes.  
"Hello?" an impatient, scratchy voice could be heard saying in the phone.  
"Wait.. what the hell is HE doing in this call?" the other asked, obviously annoyed that his rival would be involved in the same conversation as he.  
"I called both of you up, because I only want to say this once. I don't know what I'm going to do at this point, I haven't made that decision yet. The more people keep asking me and pushing me, the harder it gets to make any sort of decision. Basically, this can be summed up in two words: **back off**! When I've made a decision, _I_ will bring the subject back up, not anyone else! If one more person badgers me about what I'm going to do, there is going to be hell unleashed. Understood?" Kurt said, getting all the frustration out.  
"Yes"  
"Yes"  
"Good! That is all gentlemen, enjoy your day." Kurt said, ending the call. At least one part of life was going to be a bit easier now, he thought, now time to fix another big part of my life before it crumbles.


End file.
